FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS (Ophelia Corrigan) novel Chapter 115

CHAPTER 115

MON

Shit. I locked the door, didn’t I?

I got out of bed, tossed the condom, and walked over. The sound had.come from the hallway,

“Stay here,” I said.

“Simon, it might be one of the kids.”

“That’s exactly why I’m going to check.”

AM

I pulled on my pants fast, didn’t bother with the belt, and shoved my arms into the open shirt. Jamie was already grabbing her nightgown off the floor when I unlocked the door.

The hallway was empty.

I checked Jack’s room first. He was sleeping on his back, a book open next to his pillow. Sam was sprawled sideways, one foot hanging out from under the blanket.

I went into Lily’s room too. She was out cold, hugging her stuffed rabbit.

But she was alone..

Chloe wasn’t in the room.

I looked down the hall. A strip of light was coming up from the living room, bleeding up the stairs.

I walked over quietly.

Chloe was standing by the window, watching the rain fall over Manhattan. She was wearing the same blouse from earlier, holding a glass of water.

I watched her for a few seconds.

She didn’t turn around.

She probably didn’t even know I was there.

Either way, I decided not to go to her. I just went back to the bedroom.

Jamie had already put her nightgown back on and was sitting in the middle of the bed when I walked in. I closed the door and turned the key until I heard the click.

“So?” she asked. “What was it?”

I thought about Chloe at the window.

“The wind,” I said. “A draft must’ve come in from the terrace.”

Jamie relaxed.

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FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS

“Are the kids okay?”

Tasteep

I got back in bed and kissed her. First her forehead. Then her mouth.

“Where were we?”

“At the part where I was complimenting your new accessory.”

55 vouche

Jamie laughed and lay back. I turned off the light, pulled her close, and wrapped my arm around her waist from behind. The piercing sat right under my hand.

“Simon?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m glad I brought the suitcase.”

I squeezed her tighter.

“Me too, baby.”

I fell asleep with my face in her hair and my hand on her stomach.

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of the private elevator.

I opened my eyes. Jamie was still asleep, tucked against me, and the clock read just after seven.

Nobody came up without being announced.

There was only one person in the world who walked into my house like that.

Jamie mumbled something into the pillow and pulled the sheet toward the empty side I’d left. I paused for a second just to look at her.

I put on my pants, buttoned half my shirt, and went downstairs.

Before I even hit the last step, I heard Lily’s laugh.

“Again!”

Another laugh answered. Deeper. Familiar.

I stopped.

My father was in the middle of the living room, in his wheelchair, surrounded by kids.

Susan was behind the sofa with a cup of coffee.

And Chloe was by the window.

My father saw me first.

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FAKA DATING WITH BENEFITS MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS

“Finally.”

I opened my arms.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in Italy for another month?”

“Good morning to you too, son.”

I crossed the room and crouched down to hug him. He squeezed the back of my neck the way he’d done since I was ten.

“You good?”

“I’m great. Susan, tell him I’m great.”

Susan took a sip of coffee.

“He complained for nine hours straight on the flight, so he’s perfectly normal.”

“Traitor,” my father muttered.

Sam laughed.

“Is she your babysitter?”

My father put a hand to his chest, offended.

“Babysitter? Young man, Susan is the woman responsible for keeping me out of jail on three continents.”

“Four,” Susan corrected.

Jack finally laughed.

I looked at the three of them.

“I see you’ve all introduced yourselves.”

My father raised an eyebrow.

“So these are the kids of that friend of yours from college?”

I’d given him the basics over text. Abby. The accident. The kids. The fact that, for some reason, my life had turned into a mix of daycare, boardroom, and family drama in less than a year.

“They are.”

“I’m Jack,” Jack said.

“Sam.”

Lily raised her hand like she was in class.

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FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS

“And I’m Lily. I sleep with a rabbit, but he’s not real.”

Father nodded solemnly.

“Important information.”

“His name is Mr. Ears.”

“Even more important information.”

Lily broke into a huge smile.

That was what my father did. He didn’t try to win anyone over. He just paid attention, and people ended up liking him before they realized it.

“So where’s your fiancée?” he asked.

“Upstairs sleeping.”

My father smiled.

“I was planning to stay in Italy another month, but then you told me you were engaged to that nice girl. I decided to come back early. After all, it’s not every day your thirty-seven-year-old son finally decides to get married, is it? I was starting to think you’d hit fifty single.”

I heard footsteps on the stairs.

I turned.

Jamie was coming down in a simple long black dress, her hair loose, her face still creased from sleep. She stopped mid-step when she saw my father.

“William?”

His face lit up.

“The future Mrs. Hart.”

Jamie put a hand to her hair like she’d just remembered she had any.

“Oh my God. I didn’t know you were coming.”

“That was the idea.”

She finished coming down and went to hug him. My father held both her hands before letting go.

“When I had dinner with you two back then, I had a feeling you’d end up being my daughter-in-law.”

Jamie turned red.

“You did?”

“I just didn’t think my son would be quick enough to notice.”

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FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS

Jamie shot me a look and smiled.

loc came over to let us know Sylvia had just finished making coffee. My father thanked her and, for the first time since I’d come down, actually looked at her.

“You’re the nanny?”

“Chloe Bennett, sir.”

“William. If you call me sir, I’ll start looking for gray hairs.”

Susan glanced at his head.

“Won’t have to look far.”

While they talked, my father pulled a small chain out from inside his shirt.

“Brought this from Assisi,” he said to me. “A friar insisted I needed extra protection.”

At the end of it was a small, darkened silver medal.

Chloe stopped.

“Saint Benedict.”

My father looked up.

“You know it?”

“The medal.” She pointed without touching. “The cross, the letters around it… it’s a protection medal. A lot of people wear it against temptation and spiritual danger.”

The silence lasted a second longer than it should have.

I looked at Chloe.

“Are you religious?”

Her cheeks went pink almost immediately.

“I… I am. But I don’t usually talk about it.”

Jamie narrowed her eyes at her, and then Chloe adjusted the bag on her shoulder.

“Actually, I should’ve gone already. I just stayed to help with coffee because the kids woke up so early.”

Lily made a face.